[From A to Z] Sorting through your feed additive choices

Here’s a look at feed additives and how they might fit your ration and your budget

by Michael F. HutjensThe author is an extension dairy specialist at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.

Feed additives are ingredients added for a non-nutrient role. (For example, sodium bicarb is added as a rumen buffering agent, not a source of sodium.) Additives vary in cost from 3 to 30 cents a cow a day. The main reason to add a feed additive is to enhance cow performance based on farm conditions, research results, the additive’s role, and economic returns.

Here, I outline additives in six categories that may help you and your advisors decide if an additive should be included.

The category, current status, is classified in the following ways.Recommended: Include as needed.Experimental: Additional research is needed before recommending.Evaluative: Monitor individual farm situation (there will be variable responses).
Not recommended: Currently lacks economic response.